"Hillsdale - Newly discovered shining diamond"

Hillsdale has long been a boring town back in 80's and 90's, however, the town has changed so much since 2010 and it's like a totally different neighborhood now. As of 2017, there are still lots of new developments happening in this community. San Mateo ranked #12 of top 100 best cities to live in 2015 and Hillsdale was the main driver behind the scene: http://www.sanmateoinsider.org/2015/09/san-mateo-named-one-of-the-best-places-to-live-in/

- Hillsdale mall is now updated to build Cenipolis luxury movie theater and Pin Strike bowling alley with lots of new dining options. -
- The bay meadow phase 2 new development has completed 60-70% of its original plan at this point - apartments and town houses are built, and retail spaces are also built and now being leased. - Lots of clean new parks are newly built. - Kaiser Permanente hospital and San Mateo police station are also in the neighborhood. With the police station, the neighborhood became much safer. Lots of people actually walking on the street even at midnight. - Schools are also getting better over time. It's still not the best school neighborhood in the Bay Area but with the current development rate, I expect there will be a huge change in the near future for the educational performance as well.
- New tech giants are located near the Hillsdale Caltrain station as well.

Some improvement opportunities are: - The median housing price has increased dramatically with those new developments. However, it's not as expensive as Palo Alto yet.
- Traffics near the Hillsdale 101 Exit. Lots of traffics flowing into Foster City through this exit, which makes the exit almost always congested.
- Air quality sometimes does not seem as good as the old days due to a lot of new developments/ constructions.

"A rising star neighborhood in Peninsula"

SM city has made lots of investments in this community to make a great example of the bay area's transit oriented community. As the importance of commuting time and options has increased dramatically in recent years, Bay Meadows in Hilldale is developed to meet such increasing demands. The town is very unique in a way that the residents can accesss to pretty much everything within their walking distance.

"Pool Sticks, Superheroes and a Lebonese Kitchen"

A lot of Hillsdale is taken up by the San Mateo Fairgrounds, with much of what is leftover being a residential neighborhood.

But around the edges this neighborhood there are ton of stores and restaurants. My significant other, for example, goes here about once a month to check out the latest comic books at Lee’s Comics. There is also a tattoo place, a violin place, a pool parlor and the Magic Theatre, a “smoke shop”.

There are also a number of restaurants like Sinoire’s Pizza, Mama’s Vietnamese Cuisine, Oceanic (a Chinese place) and few places that when I’m a good girl and don’t make fun of him for his geeky comic book obsession, the bf treats me to Tannarine, a cool little Lebanese place. (There actually used to be a fair number of other cool restaurants right at this spot on El Camino, but some of them seem to not have survived.)

As to living here, there are definitely some other benefits other than the strong restaurant selection. You are, first of all, right by the Hayward Park Caltrain station (up on the northern end of the neighborhood). So this is a really good spot for commuters in either or both directions, as me and the BF would be if we moved here (me to Stanford, him to SF).

So what is like living here?

Well if you are thinking of renting, apartments here run on the order of $3000 to $4000. These are nice apartments, but considering this is about what some people pay in mortgage, I’m not sure this is the best place to rent.

In terms of buying, the median home in the area runs about $600K. The high end, however, is not much higher than this, with only a handful breaking the $800K barrier. Most of the homes for sale are in the residential area to south of the Fairgrounds.

More than half of the homes in this area are on sale due to foreclosure, so there probably are some deals to be had.

The schools are average to strong in this neighborhood as well.

Crime is low but not non-existent. There have been about a dozen home burglaries, a pair of robberies and dozen or so assaults in the last 6 months. That isn’t terrible compared to the big city, but may be a bit of a consideration if you are moving here with family.

Overall, a pretty good spot that is relatively affordable as far as the Peninsula goes.

"Boring, boring, boring"

Hillsdale is a flat, boring and flavorless San Mateo neighborhood brimming of lower middle-class monotony. It is, however, nestled at the corner of US Route 101 and US Route 92 and within close proximity to downtown San Mateo. The neighborhood is also rather large, spanning 2.2 square miles and is buoyed by a total population of above 12,000 (making it the most populated district in San Mateo). The district is also a bit of a melting pot of ethnic residents, most of which are white while the minority is split between hispanic and asian inhabitants.

Hillsdale’s residential quarters are lackluster at best. Most homes are small, blocky one-story in size and bounded by their skinny properties. They share the same boring house fronts, small yards and one-car garages that make up most of the neighborhood. But if you head towards the southern most edge of the community, you’ll hit a couple blocks of nicer, larger homes situated on more appealing properties. They are mostly two-stories in size with more room for the whole family to run around. According to the 2010 US Census, house prices are within the range of $600,000 to $800,000, and if you’re looking to rent, you’ll likely shell out around $1,400/month. Moreover, the median household income is around $80,000/year, right on board with the average San Mateo community

For your commercial needs, the Hillsdale Shopping Center lies directly west of the neighborhood. The area provides a couple shopping options including a Nordstrom, a Macy’s, Trader Joe’s, a Barnes & Noble, American Eagle, a food court, and handful of restaurants (with abundant parking). Elsewhere, the Hayward Park Caltrain skirts the northern edge of the community, while Hillsdale Caltrain is located along South El Camino Real. Both transit options connect residents to San Francisco and San Jose. It’s most notable destination is the San Mateo Fairgrounds. Located along Saratoga Drive, the venue hosts everything from county fairs to art shows to business expos.

RobertS5Our community and neighborhoods are defined by the city - to be accurate the neighborhood is Beresford Hillsdale not Beresford and Hillsdale as is it is listed on this site - where one is ranked 4th and the other 7th so should the reader take an average of the two? - The information on this site is a bit stale with this being written in 2012 - to update a home would be a good value at $800k these days with the median price around 1.2M - hard not to disagree that it is pricey but you should consider the location, easy access to 101, 280 20 miles to San Francisco, CalTrain access within walking distance and 15 min to Half Moon Bay, good schools. great parks lots of good restaurants and major mall just to name a few - I encourage you to check out our community web site at www.beresfordhillsdale.org and learn more about the neighborhood.

2yrs+

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"Money Can Make a Great Community"

Hillsdale is the neighborhood that has it all. Great houses, top retail stores, great restaurants, safe and excellent schools, friendly people and so much more. Hillsdale is probably one of the strongest neighborhood districts in the San Mateo area. There is plenty of culture and activities that reach out to all age groups from senior activities to skate boarding. One of the most familiar names in HIllsdale is probable the Hillsdale Shopping Center which is a big mega mall that has some of my favorite stores from American Eagle to Nordstrom. I wish that I could afford to live in the Hillsdale area. The houses are all so perfect. Big, spacious and full of California charm. For the most part the people come off as friendly and very much involved with their community. Traffic is always a problem because there are four major raods that boarder the Hillsdale area which include the Bayshore Freeway and S El Camino Real.